GEO 131 – FINAL EXAM
Name:
EXAM TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Write your name on each page!
THIS EXAM IS A CLOSED BOOK EXAM. No notes or books are permitted.
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Section 1: Multiple choice questions, CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER;
RESPOND TO EACH OF THE QUESTIONS BELOW
1. Which of the following best reflects a soft-path response to unsustainable agriculture:
a. Knowledge-intensive agriculture
b. Polyculture
c. a and b
d. None of the above.
2. Polyculture is:
a.
b.
c.
d.
an agricultural system consisting of plots in which multiple crops are
cultivated
a type of agriculture designed by Dr. Polly Smith to reduce global food shortages.
a multi-ethnic adaptation strategy to adversity; usually a response to environmental
racism.
e. an agricultural system consisting of a single crop.
3. Biopiracy:
a. refers to recent efforts by pirates to capture food cargo, especially that
b. which consists of lucrative bio-substances.
c. refers to the unjust taking of biological material and local knowledge about
d. that material; usually by Western scientific and conservation-oriented
e. institutions
f. may be considered an example of environmental injustice
g. a and c
4. Environmental fragmentation refers to:
a. a process by which increased atmospheric carbon concentrations lead to a
b. greater separation between cold climates and warm climates.
c. a situation in which biodiversity is reduced through agriculture-induced land
fragmentation.
d. an environmental ideology that sees global climate change as a force of fragmentation.
e. a and c
5. Environmental justice involves which of the following elements?
a. Sustainable development
b. A safe environment that people can trust, and in which they can feel
c. nurtured and productive
d. Communities where justice prevails
e. All of the above.
f. b and c
GEO 131 – FINAL EXAM
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6. Genetic erosion:
a. is a result of modern agriculture
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b. creates the conditions whereby animals are more susceptible to disease
c. creates a devastating population bottleneck
d. All of the above.
7. Sacrifice zones
a. are those areas of the world where land is sacrificed for toxic waste
b. dumping.
c. refer to the immense sacrifice is made by underprivileged people forced to live with
the consequences of environmental racism.
d. are generally areas of high biodiversity.
e. a and b
8. The externalization of toxic waste:
a. Allows waste producers (manufacturing companies) to avoid the cost of
waste disposal.
b. involves the reduction of toxic waste resulting from commodity production.
c. involves ‘process separation’ along the commodity chain wherein toxic
production processes may be relocated.
d. a and c
9. Which of the following is a cause of toxic contamination?
a. The extraction of raw materials
b. Industrialization resulting from international market expansion
c. Industrialization resulting from National Development Plans in the Global South
d. All of the above.
10. Fortress conservation:
a. is based on the notion that people should live within conservation areas so
as to protect them from potentially harmful intruders.
b. is based on the notion that people should not live within conservation
areas and that such areas must be protected from human use.
c. is used to stymie elephant poaching.
d. b and c
e. a and b
11. Which of the following is true about coal ash produced at the UK heating facilities?
a. It is sent to landfills throughout the state.
b. It is used to treat roads of underprivileged communities in the winter.
c. It is used/has been used as a surface for children’s playgrounds
d. All of the above
e. None of the Above
GEO 131 – FINAL EXAM
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12. An example/examples of products recycled through sham recycling discussed in class
includes:
a. plastic insecticide containers
b. rubber tires
c. computers (e-waste)
d. a & c
e. a, b & c
13. About 75% of today’s greenhouse emissions come from:
a. Deforestation
b. Burning fossil fuels
c. Coal mining
d. Chemical fertilizers
14. The trapping of solar radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere is called ____________.
a. Global Warming
b. Carbon Emissions
c. Climate
d. The Greenhouse Effect
15. Demography refers to:
a. Environmental Degradation
b. Population
c. Democracy
d. Biodiversity
16. In Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan explores the commodity chain of _______________.
a. Oil
b. Peanuts
c. Corn
d. Cotton
17. Which of these compares the human rate of resource use to the Earth’s ability to regenerate?
a. Carbon Footprint
b. Demography
c. Global Ecological Footprint
d. Environmental Degradation
18. _________________________ is the largest supplier of oil to the United States.
a. Saudi Arabia
b. Ecuador
c. Nigeria
d. Canada
GEO 131 – FINAL EXAM
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19. Which of these is an example of a “soft path” to energy production?
a. Nuclear Power
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b. Coal Mining
c. Wind Farming
d. Oil Drilling
20. Which of these is an example of a carbon sink?
a. Oceans
b. Fossil fuel consumption
c. Deforestation
d. Melting glaciers
21. _________________________ allows firms to relocate toxic processes to countries with less
regulation than the United States and other nations of the Global North.
a. Pollution
b. The Summers’ memo
c. Indirect contamination
d. Process separation
22. _________________________ are frequently donated by people in Western societies to poorer areas
in Africa and have become a source of toxic contamination.
a. Clothes
b. Computers
c. Cars
d. Furniture
23. __________________________ is a mineral used in cell phones that is funding civil war in The
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
a. Coltan
b. Oil
c. Nitrogen
d. Vanadium
24. Who wrote that pollution should be exported to poorer, “underpolluted” countries?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Michael Pollan
Rachel Carson
James Swaney
Lawrence Summers
GEO 131 – FINAL EXAM
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25. Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson describes the effects of:
a. Coltan
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b. DDT
c. Oil production
d. Over-population
26. Designating parks as areas where humans are not allowed to live is known as __________________.
a. Fortress Conservation
b. Habitat Destruction
c. Eco-tourism
d. Participatory Conservation
27. According to Sen, 100 Million Women are Missing because:
a. statistical inadequacies in the data
b. more men than women are born each year
c. men get killed in greater numbers by wars and gang violence
d. women do not get as many resources as men
28. Biodiversity is:
a. Greater now than at any point during the history of life on earth
b. Concentrated in 'hot spots' located mostly in the tropics
c. Under threat from anthropogenic causes
d. A result of evolutionary processes
e. All of the above
29. In describing his 'New Atlantis', Bacon outlined an imaginary place in which:
a. Ancient wisdom with respect to natural laws was preserved
b. Merfolk dwell happily 'under the sea' in harmony with nature
c. Natural forces are increased through rational manipulation by humans
d. Natural forces are destroyed by pollution and waste
30. As discussed in class, the line 'we need a bigger boat' from the movie Jaws was used as a
metaphor to describe:
a. Using technology to overcome nature
b. The need for a modern day 'arc' to carry endangered species to safety
c. A vehicle to save the population of islands threatened by rising sea levels
d. The need to live in harmony with nature
31. What pollutant IS NOT associated with the Coal commodity chain?
a. Sulfur Oxides
b. Acid runoff
c. Nitrous Oxide
d. Plutonium Oxide
GEO 131 – FINAL EXAM
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32. 'Process separation' along commodity chains may be used by polluters to:
a. Separate workers from toxic materials in factories
b. Move commodity chain nodes to countries in the global north where better control
technologies exist
c. Move commodity chain nodes to countries of the Global South where pollution is not
well-regulated
d. Manage the disposal of toxic waste by separating plastics from pesticides
33. In the Global Assembly Line movie shown in class, the line 'these girls can take a lot of abuse'
referred to:
a. Company thugs beating up women workers
b. Girls exposed to toxic materials while picking through dumpsite waste
c. Loss of eyesight and nausea from using microscopes to check electronic chips
d. Family violence in urban areas
34. In the Mexico City urban example, the following WAS NOT used to challenge polluters:
a. Street protests and theatre
b. Working through political connections
c. Calling the police and other authorities to force polluters to pay bribes
d. Waiting for inspectors to come by and shut polluters down for non-compliance
35. In Savages, the Huaorani were NOT fighting against:
a. Deforestation
b. Uranium mining
c. Road-building and Colonization
d. Oil Exploration and drilling
36. When the Maxus oil representative came out of the building to talk with the Huaorani
gathered there in protest:
a. He was surrounded by chanting Huaorani in full warrior regalia
b. She was slapped and had her hair pulled by Huaorani women
c. He was impaled on a Huaorani spear
d. The Huaorani served her with a set of legal papers
GEO 131 – FINAL EXAM
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Section 2: Short Answer, Answer each of the six questions listed below in the space available
1. What is Kate Crehan’s argument when she points out Mahmood Mamdani’s point that “poor
people, rather than being poor because they have large families, ‘have large families because
they are poor’”?
2. What does Rachel Carson’s title Silent Spring refer to, and why is her study significant?
3. What is the Clothesline Paradox? How does it factor into calculations of people’s energy use?
Why is it important in understanding “green” energy practices? Reference “The Clothesline
Paradox” by Steve Baer in your answer.
GEO 131 – FINAL EXAM
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4. What are “knowledge intensive” and “resource intensive” agricultural practices? What are the
differences between them?
5. What were some of the groups involved in the Huaorani struggle against oil exploration and
what roles did they play?
6. According to Swaney and the class lecture, what IS 'dumping on Africa' and why is it wrong?
GEO 131 – FINAL EXAM
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page 9 of 10
Section 3: Essay Question:
Answer ONE (1) of the following questions in your exam book
1. Compare and contrast modern agriculture with traditional agriculture
In his book Michael Pollan says “the invention of commodity grain severed any link between
the producer of a foodstuff and its ultimate consumer” (pg. 60).
Using this quote write an essay that compares and contrasts modern agriculture with
traditional agriculture. Think specifically about how commodity grain compares with noncommodity grain and what this means for the relationship between food producers and food
consumers. Also take into consideration issues of sustainability/unsustainability associated
with each mode of agriculture.
OR
Write an essay in which you identify at least three characteristics of modern agriculture that
make it unsustainable. Draw from course lectures and readings to explain how each of these
characteristics is unsustainable. Focusing particularly on their ecological footprint, and
explain how each could be improved through more sustainable alternatives (e.g., organic
agriculture, polyculture, etc.).
2. What are some of the problems related to pollution and contamination facing mega
cities in the developing world?
Using Mexico City as an example, discuss problems residents face regarding law enforcement,
immigration from rural to urban areas, patronage relations, and transportation. Reference
the article, “Are Megacities Viable?” by Exequiel Ezcurra and Marisa Mazari-Hiriart in your
answer.
3. Coal plays a large role in Kentucky politics, and is used to heat this classroom, yet it
also is the most carbon-intensive fuel and contributes to other significant
environmental problems.
In your essay, based upon your field trip to the coal plant and class lectures, argue a position
for or against the continued use of coal at UK Be sure to discuss both the Pros and the Cons,
and be explicit about the environmental consequences in your answer. Mention
contamination factors associated with the coal commodity chain, and explain why the concept
of a UK 'carbon footprint' is relevant to this discussion.